This invention relates generally to the field of pool lighting fixtures, and more particularly to a fiber optic pool lighting fixture, and specifically to a pool lighting apparatus wherein a lens assembly is sealed to the end of a fiber optic cable and further sealed within a fixture installed in a pool wall.
A variety of lighting devices are known for supplying light to a pool. The term pool is used herein to include swimming pools, spas, hot tubs, and the like. Perhaps the most common type of pool lighting fixture is an incandescent lamp sealed within a fixture installed in the wall of the pool. Incandescent lamps generally produce a significant amount of heat energy which must be dissipated in order to prevent damage to the lighting fixture and surrounding materials. Incandescent lamps also generally require the use of high voltage electricity which may pose a safety concern for users of the pool.
Fiber optic light sources are capable of providing a variety of lighting effects within or near a pool without the heat or safety concerns of incandescent lamps, since the illuminating bulb for a fiber optic lighting system may be located remote from the pool area. It is known to provide side-emitting fiber optic cables along the coping of a pool to provide a general area lighting effect. It is also known to utilize end-emitting fiber optic cables as point sources of light disposed in a fitting along a pool wall. Such prior art fiber optic lighting fixtures generally include a device for holding the light emitting end of a fiber optic cable proximate a protective plastic shield within an aperture in a pool wall. Because there is no concern for heat dissipation or electrical safety, such prior art fiber optic lighting devices are generally designed to have a single elastomeric gasket compressed between the protective shield and the lighting fixture for preventing the leakage of pool water past the fixture. Such prior art devices are known to require periodic maintenance in order to replace the protective plastic shield which will degrade due to the corrosive action of chlorine or other chemicals within the pool water.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved fiber optic lighting fixture that will require a lower amount of maintenance and that will provide an improved barrier to leakage into or out of the pool.
Accordingly, a pool lighting apparatus is described herein as including a fixture adapted to be sealed into an opening in a pool, the fixture having an aperture formed there through; a fiber optic light source comprising a fiber optic cable having a length adapted for passing into the fixture aperture and having a light emitting end; a lens assembly attached to the fiber optic cable, the lens assembly comprising a lens disposed proximate the light emitting end for receiving light from the light emitting end and transmitting the light into the pool; and the lens assembly further comprising a first seal apparatus for preventing the introduction of water between the light emitting end and the lens from outside the lens assembly.
The lens assembly may include a connector comprising a body having an aperture with a first elastomeric seal disposed therein for receiving the fiber optic cable and a nut adapted to be threaded onto the body for compression of the first elastomeric seal around the fiber optic cable proximate the light emitting end; and a lens holder sealed to the lens and adapted for a threaded engagement with the connector body with a first seal disposed there between for positioning the light emitting end proximate the lens and for preventing the introduction of water between the light emitting end and the lens.